If you want some good old fashioned multiplayer first person shooter action, you might want to consider checking out Nexuiz. The game, which was originally launched as a free FPS for the PC, is now available in a radically new form for the Xbox 360 console (it"s also coming to the PC and PS3 later this year). With its fast action, its unique art style, its Dynamic Mutator feature and its CryENGINE 3-based graphics, Nexuiz looks and plays a bit differently than your standard run-and-gun shooter. It doesn"t hurt that it only costs 800 Microsoft Points.
Neowin got a chance to ask some questions to Kedhrin Gonzalez, the creative director for Nexuiz"s developer Illfonic. He tells us more about the game, how the team came up with its odd art style and what to expect with the PC and PS3 versions.
First, Nexuiz is well known as a free PC first person shooter. How did the idea come about to turn Nexuiz into a commercial game?
We were fans of Classic Nexuiz and played it for a good while. I had become friends with Forest Hale, one of the original creators of Classic Nexuiz, through some Quake Modding I was doing in my spare time. After some discussion, it seemed like a great opportunity to give birth to a new, AAA quality Arena FPS. While not open source like Classic, we’ve tried to keep the same spirit of the game by making it extremely affordable compared to other AAA quality FPS games.
How hard is it to come up with new ideas for a first person multiplayer shooter with so many other games that people can choose from?
The most important thing for a team to do when bringing Innovation to the table is understanding what today"s gamers like and don"t like. There is no right recipe to this, and with fan boys latching on to brands and defending them with hard teeth, it"s always intimidating. We fall into what we would like to see (as developers) in the genre and something new players would appreciate. For some of us, the Arena FPS genre is nostalgic. To a lot of today"s gamers, the genre is new. We knew this would be something that made Nexuiz stand out. Furthermore, the introduction of Dynamic Mutators made us have the ability to throw a curve ball in an almost repetitive multiplayer space.
Is there any kind of fictional back story for Nexuiz?
There is! Nexuiz is the name of the sport, or spectacle if you will. It"s almost like Gladiator fighting. However, Nexuiz is the result of the Forsellian and Kavussari nations being forced to settle their conflicts in small arenas. There was too much innocent lives being lost. Thus, the Nexuiz was created when the Harold Accord was formed. We have quite a deep story written behind Nexuiz, and we hope to one day expose it even more.
What kinds of weapons can we expect in the game?
There are nine weapons players can get on the maps. The weapons range from explosives, to rail style, to machine gun style, to shotgun style. Most of our weapons feature splash damage and have a lot of visual feedback. It"s definitely full of intense action. Outside of the standard weapons, players can explore many other types of weapons through Dynamic Mutators.
What can you tell us about Nexuiz"s Dynamic Mutators and how they affect gameplay?
There are 100 Dynamic Mutators in Nexuiz split up into 4 categories (a single player, all players, the player’s team, the enemy team). Players are able to call in a Dynamic Mutator via a pickup, a five-kill streak, or by capturing the flag. When players meet these goals, they can choose one of 3 Dynamic Mutators, each showing up at set rates by default (depending on how gameplay affecting they are). Players choose one and the Mutator will be active for a period of time (again, depending on its purpose in gameplay). There can be one Dynamic Mutator in each category at any given time (four active). This, in combination with the 100 Dynamic Mutators available, allow for over 1.7 million possible combinations. Dynamic Mutators change the game a lot, and are really fun to work with. They can change many elements of gameplay including gravity, jetpacks, super weapons, invulnerability, team spawning, infinite ammo and more. It"s a radically new concept for the Arena FPS genre.
What sort of gameplay modes will be put into Nexuiz?
The game ships with Capture the Flag and Team Deathmatch. Because Dynamic Mutators change so much, we want to give players a gameplay they are familiar with to learn this new system.
How would you describe the level designs in the game?
Every level design is different in it"s own way. We approached with different styles to really pinpoint what players appreciate the most. Some levels are small and vertical, while some are large, more open and horizontal. Some feature many falling hazards, and others try to find a medium balance on all sides. You can almost consider the nine levels of Nexuiz like a D&D base alignment.
The art style of Nexuiz is striking. How did the team come up with it?
We wanted to tackle a different style that we"ve never done before. Most of the Nexuiz elements are super shiny and clean. This turned out to be really difficult. As it stands, making things dirty is a lot easier than making things clean. Three of the levels feature a more organic, ancient ruins-style approach (known as “AtaVirta”). We knew we wanted to create environments that were big, open and epic. We wanted to take down the walls of claustrophobia that most Arena FPS games have. We also wanted to make sure our environments weren"t so filled with clutter and detail that it takes away from the gameplay. It was a lot of trial and error, but we feel like we came up with something really cool. Our main influences were Mass Effect and Final Fantasy.
What other features do you think are important in the game?
We feature a full controller customization menu, a button for fast turning, and a button players can use to for rocket jumping. These systems, along with some other careful considerations, make an Arena FPS more accessible to consoles. PC players will find we fully respect what they demand out of an first-person shooter game, with dedicated servers, a server browser for private matches, and pushing CryENGINE 3"s graphics to the max with DX11 features.
Why did the team pick CryENGINE 3 as the basis for Nexuiz?
We were initially using Darkplaces, a modified Quake 1 engine. However, it wasn"t really achieving what we wanted for the game. So we were walking around the show floor at GDC 2010 and saw CryENGINE 3 on display. We instantly fell in love and knew we had to get it.
Are there any plans to add DLC content to the game after its Xbox Live Arcade release?
We definitely do have a DLC strategy for Nexuiz. We hope to have more details for this soon!
There will be PC and PS3 versions of Nexuiz coming out later this year. Will they have any additional features and content?
We will be altering the game for each platform. For example, the PS3"s controller needs some special love on its turn acceleration compared to the Xbox 360 controller. The deadzones are different, and that kind of thing means a lot in an Arena FPS. On PC, there won"t be aim assist, the game will a bit faster, and hit boxes will be made smaller.
Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Nexuiz?
We were a small team of nine core developers, 12 at our peak, who worked on this game. It is our passion and we had a blast working on it. We hope gamers will appreciate the low price point and ample amount of content provided!